A Canberra business driving innovation in product design and development has taken out the title of ACT Exporter of the Year at the 2025 ACT Chief Minister's Export Awards.
Liquid Instruments' technology has the potential to solve some of the world's greatest problems; from understanding climate change to transitioning to renewable energies and developing new medical solutions.
It took out the top spot for its outstanding contribution to international markets, showcasing the Territory's strength in innovation and advanced manufacturing. Its accelerated approach to product development has positioned it as a standout among ACT exporters.
Liquid Instruments, founded by Professor Daniel Shaddock and a team of researchers at the Australian National University (ANU), uses technology from gravitational wave research to create flexible, software-based test equipment. Their devices replace bulky hardware and let users run multiple instruments at once, making testing faster and easier.
Liquid Instruments has many large customers in the industrial space, in company sectors that range from telecommunications to semiconductor to aerospace and defence. They can be proud to call NASA, Google and Intel as their clients.
"The ACT Government is focussed on growing our export market as a major contributor to our economy. Our service exports exceeded $2.6 billion in 2023-24, and total ACT Export volumes grew by 2.5% through the year to June 2025," Chief Minister Andrew Barr said.
"I congratulate the Liquid Instruments team for this significant achievement. I commend them for doing it all from Canberra and offering Canberra's stream of top-notch STEM graduates a local career path.
"I also wish to congratulate the other businesses recognised at this year's ACT Chief Minister's Export Awards. These businesses continue to promote Canberra on the world stage, showcasing our city's innovation and creativity to an international audience."
Liquid Instruments was also named this year's winner in the Manufacturing and Advanced Materials category.
This year's category winners are:
- ACT Exporter of the Year: Liquid Instruments
- Emerging Exporter: Dentroid
- Sustainability and Green Economy: Ardexa
- Technologies: Cogito Group
- Small Business: BixeLab
- Professional Services: Teron Labs
- Creative Industries: Scott Leggo
- Manufacturing and Advanced Materials: Liquid Instruments
- International Education and Training: UNSW Canberra
- ACT Promising Exporter: Agile Digital & Multiforge (ACT only winners)
Winners of the ACT Chief Minister's Export Awards become national finalists at the Australian Export Awards.
